Hostile reception for Froome
Chris Froome got a taste of what’s to come on the Tour de France when fans booed and whistled him and Team Sky at their team presentation.
The teams were presented in La Roche-sur-Yon yesterday ahead of Le Tour, as is tradition ahead of the event.
But when Team Sky took the stage, they were greeted by a hostile crowd.
Froome in particular was on the end of a number of boos from the crowd. As he left the stage, he rode straight through the media mixed zone and past hundreds of cycling fans, through what became a tunnel of boos and taunts.
The UCI has cleared Froome of any wrongdoing after an investigation into an adverse test for salbutamol during the Vuelta a Espana in 2017.
Many think the four-time Tour de France champion should be banned from riding this year, hence the hostile reaction from fans.
‘‘Obviously it’s not nice when people are booing you but it’s not like it’s the whole crowd, it’s just a few very vocal people,’’ Froome’s team-mate Geraint Thomas told Sky Sports.
‘‘As long as it’s just the verbal side [it’s OK]. As long as they don’t affect the race – running alongside riders in the mountains, touching riders or throwing things at them – that’s when it’s dangerous and not what you want to see.’’
‘‘Obviously it’s not nice when people are booing you but it’s not like it’s the whole crowd, it’s just a few very vocal people.’’ Chris Froome’s team-mate Geraint Thomas